A visitor’s guide to the PNAA aerospace manufacturing conference

The Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance (PNAA) hosts its 16th annual conference Feb. 13-16, 2017, at the Lynnwood Convention Center, 3711 196th St. SW, Lynnwood, Washington, near Boeing’s Everett facility. Featuring aircraft program updates and networking opportunities with major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and tier suppliers, more than 600 participants and 355 companies from 10 countries are expected. Melanie Jordan, PNAA’s CEO and executive director, offers the following details to potential attendees.

AM&D: Why attend?

MJ: We bring executives together from across the U.S. and around the globe to share market intelligence, learn trends, and benefit from analytics of the commercial aerospace industry. The four-day event starts with factory tours and progresses to presentations from leading industry players.

Keynote speaker is Dr. Kevin Michaels of AeroDynamic Advisory, who will address the competitive challenges facing aerospace tier suppliers. Richard Aboulafia of Teal Group will give the Commercial Aerospace Forecast. Other speakers come from Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Mitsubishi Aircraft, and Tier 1 to 3 manufacturers.

This year, a special panel on global issues will address Brexit, trade post-U.S. presidential election, and the dollar versus the euro. Companies looking to raise their level of visibility in the commercial aerospace marketplace should come to our aerospace conference.

AM&D: Who attends?

MJ: Attendees include C-suite and senior executives in product development, supply chain procurement, and logistics. Because we’re in the heart of the aerospace cluster, we attract foreign delegations to come to network and learn about companies here. B2B meetings for buyers and sellers in manufacturing offer an opportunity to establish business relationships.

AM&D: What can attendees expect to learn?

MJ: Our theme is The Competitive Edge: Implementing Technology And Innovation, so we are delivering new and different information on the urgency of adopting innovation and new technology to be competitive in the near future. A lot of those technologies involve materials and processes that are already familiar – such as additive manufacturing and advanced composite materials – that we’re going to explore in more depth.

We also have a trade show and skilled workforce fair where participants show their products and capabilities. It’s a nice complement to our main function of delivering market intelligence.

AM&D: What’s the best way to get there?

MJ: You’ll want to fly into Sea-Tac Airport and rent a car with a buddy so you can drive in the car-pool lane – or you can Uber. You’ll want to stay north of Seattle, in the greater Everett area. Several hotels are close by. Rates and details are on our website.

PNAA

www.pnaa.net